T3 - UK (2020-12)

94 T3 DECEMBER 2020

Best of the best

Nailed it. Light, with

broad, soft ear cups

and a remarkably

comfortable

headband, these

offer best-in-class

noise cancellation

with great sound,

rich bass and a lively

approach to music.

£349, sony.co.uk

BOSE NOISE CANCELLING

HEADPHONES 700

Close rivals to the

Sony and B&W

options above,

they’re less exciting,

but also very easy to

listen to for hours on

end. If you are easy

like Sunday morning,

maybe these are

your babies.

£299, bose.com

SHURE AONIC 50

The sound quality

of the Aonic 50

should have purists

purring. There isn’t

an excess of bass

and it delivers all

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and painstaking

accuracy you

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£359, shure.co.uk

A bit dull-looking,

but the audio quality

and noise cancelling

are extremely

close to that of the

Sonys. B&W’s usual

exciting, but well

balanced, sound

meets excellent

noise cancelling.

£275, bowers-wilkins.co.uk

These are both

wired and wireless

• the in-ear bit has a
  cable to a DAC box,
  which you can then
  play music through
  over Bluetooth or
  by plugging in. The
  sound is fantastic –
  huge and nuanced.

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SOUNDMAGIC E11C

Can we really be

recommending a pair

of headphones for

under £50? Yes we

can! The grown-up

sound quality and

exemplary comfort

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them the sonic

bargain of the year.

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FLARE AUDIO FLARES JET 3

Maintaining the

quality of the Flares

Pro (see Bluetooth

headphones),

removing the DAC

element and thereby

slashing the price,

these audiophile in-

ear headphones are

a tremendous option.

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but nonetheless

immediately felt

comfortable and

solid. The audio is

boosted, primped

and pop-friendly,

with plenty of bass

and a very lively and

engaging sound.

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When you factor

just how good these

sound, they’re a

bargain. In a quiet

room, they sound as

good as headphones

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more. They’re among

the leakiest we’ve

tried, however.

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FOCAL STELLIA

Carefully engineered

to give you the kind

of big soundscape

expected of high-

end headphones,

the audio quality is

stunning. Detail and

expansiveness at

the high end is really

impressive too.

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These have

absolutely no right to

sound half as good as

they do. For at-home

listening they offer a

massive soundstage,

impressive balance

and a frankly

ludicrous amount of

detail for the dosh.

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Forget about MP3s

or EDM: these

headphones don’t

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sound quality for

bass. But if you give

them a good amp

and a good sound

source they do

incredible things.

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NOISE CANCELLING

HEADPHONES

WIRED IN-EAR

HEADPHONES

WIRED OVER-EAR

HEADPHONES

Find the lowest prices at:
t3.com/bestnoisecancelling

Find the lowest prices at:

t3.com/bestinear

Find the lowest prices at:

t3.com/bestoverear

SONY WH-1000XM4 FLARE AUDIO FLARE PRO 2HD GRADO SR325E

BOWERS & WILKINS PX7 KLIPSCH T5M WIRED AUDIO TECHNICA ATH-A1000Z

AKG K52